Removing a tail

It should have been done at a few days old.  The nerve endings have not developed then.  Now they are fully developed and it is major surgery to remove the tail.  Most vets will not consider it unless it is very necessary, say from infection or something.

Why do you think it would be better without the tail?

It is an extremely long tail and is very clumsy. Also, personally, I think it looks better

Why would it be better without it?  I have never had any breed where you dock the dog's tail, so I have no idea, but I am pretty sure that at this point it would be very very painful (not to mention a pretty serious) procedure involving putting the dog under for no reason??  Others will know better I am sure - but my gut is, why - unless medically necessary, put a dog through this at this age?

Well since the dog is already 9 mo., I think your idea of what looks good is out of the question, besides I haven't seen either breed with a docked tail. IMHO

i always thought that most pitbulls have their tails docked? perhaps i'm wrong... and this is just a question to feed my curiosity, i didn't mean to offend any pet fanciers

Dont worry about offending.  We all get offended off and on on here.  LOL

Its better that you ask questions anyway.  Search for Pits and see if you can find any with docked tails.  I'm not really sure.  But I picture them with natural tails too. 

Docking a tail at 9 months is called an amputation and is not routine.

neither labs nor pitbulls have their tails docked.  []

At this age, amputating a tail (which is what it is considered at this point..it's an entirely different procedure than when done at a few days old) would be very painful and shouldn't be done for aesthetics

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are these tails not docked? thanks for the quick replies

Vets will amputate a tail if medically necessary. At this age and under these conditions, it's just not a  medical necessity.

Not sure about that first pic you posted, but if you look real close at the second one, you will see the very tip of the tail behind her right  leg.

Docked tails are actually not accepted for this breed by the UKC or ADBA.

ORIGINAL: mybostonterrier

i always thought that most pitbulls have their tails docked? perhaps i'm wrong... and this is just a question to feed my curiosity, i didn't mean to offend any pet fanciers

Oh most get offended on here once a week, you get that when you as for peoples opinions and I'm sure you'll do your fair share of offending soon enough, ha ha! Thankfully it helps see other's point of view and we gain knoweldge by it!
     As a fellow pit owner I know what you eman about the power of that tail! Man its like a bull ina china store! My grandma who has poor blood circulation actually gets bruises from Rory's tail so we have to be careful when she is visiting. Rory has even hit her tail so hard on a corner of the bookshelf that it busted open and got blood ALL OVER!!! We had to bandage it for two weeks with heavy gauze, that whole time when we'd have friends over I'd say, ingore her or she'll get excited and wag her tail causing it to bleed again! The vet even considered removing her tail for Rory's own benefit but in the end she said it would cause her a severe amount of pain and that as Rory gets older her tail will become less lethal. In the meantime you can fell narly bumps in her tail where it has become hard from her hitting it on stuff. Thankfully my sister's pit used to do the same, he is now 6 years old and it HAS calmed down. Good luck and keep outta the way, ha ha!

I dont think either labs or pitbulls have docked tails. 

The main reason some breeds have docked tails is because their tails are extremely fragile, and if left undocked, can be easily broken when they're adults.  But I guess this has evolved into "well the dog doesn't LOOK right with the tail on". [&o]

All I am saying is, unless the tail poses a problem for the dog, there is no legitimate reason to dock it now that he's 9 months old.  And since it doesn't appear he has HAD any problems in the past 9 months, he most likely won't in the future.

Amputating the dog's tail right now would be the equivilant of amputating one of your fingers.  A long, painful, and probably unnecessary process.

AT this point removing the tail could affect the dogs balance, so removing it should not be an option unless absolutely necessary.
I had a German Shepherd who was hit by a car, his tail was crushed in several different place and had to be amputated. The dog never did regain complete balance, especially when running or turning.